


Castle in the Sky

by Hungryfrox



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: Also Vaati is a chaotic dumbass, Amnesia, Enemies to tolerating to friends to lovers, F/M, Feisty Zelda, God all that sounds super bad, I might be projecting a bit but she doesnt have much character to work with, I swear im only writing all that so i dont trigger anyone, I wont lie this starts out a bit dark, It becomes more lighthearted later but both these characters have their own problems to deal with, Monster OCs, So there are mature themes, Suicide mention, VaaZel, VaatixZelda, Violence, Weve got some fun banter, Zelda is Zelda from four swords, identity crisis, on the other hand
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-06-06 07:31:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15189869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hungryfrox/pseuds/Hungryfrox
Summary: On the eve of an arranged marriage on her 20th birthday, Zelda is swept away by the monstrous wind mage Vaati. However, there seems to be more to this odd sorcerer than meets the eye... no pun intended. However, Vaati gets more of a feisty princess than he bargained for. Not that that's a bad thing...





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took creative liberty wih this story, so theres is some slight divulgence from canon. The story takes place during the first Four swords game, between Minish cap and Ocarina of Time on the heel that is the Zelda timeline. The scenery is primarily inspired from the games Minish Cap and BOTW.

" So, how large was this dragon? Was it as tall as the castle? Maybe two castles?" The princess and her assigned knight were travelling side by side on horseback, with a relatively smaller escort than usual. The royal wedding was to be held the next day and rest of the garrison was busy securing the town. Not that a large escort was necessary anyway. Hyrule was enjoying an era of relative peace, and any highway robbers were no match for the man clad in green who rode next to her. Though he wasn't necessarily a member of the royal guard, Link was more than qualified as the princess's bodyguard. The boy was the next generation in a bloodline that had dutifully served the royal family and the country with incredible strength, slaying monsters of every shape and size with relative ease. Though hardly through his teen years, he had already prevailed through numerous battles, all of which he relayed to an excited princess in thrilling detail.

He muses over the question, purposely taking long to draw out the suspense. "Actually, this one had a body only about twice the size of your horse." Giving her a second to express her disappointment with a huff, he adds, "But, he had a wingspan that could have stretched across the entire throne room, and was faster than any creature I'd seen before. The bastard spat acid, and he could mimic voices, like a parrot. It was actually pretty unnerving." They cross the bridge to enter the Minshi woods, a small yet charming forest.

"A monster that spoke Hylian tongue?! "

He chuckles. "There was more than Hylian in that thing. I heard languages from countries far from Hyrule. He copied heroic speeches, along with the begging and pleading that followed shortly afterward. He was a smart one. You could tell he liked playing mind games. When the begging didn't throw me off, it went right to mimicking the death screams of its victims" He guides his horse around a tree that had fallen over the path, and helps Zelda do the same.

She shudders "That's horrible! How did you manage to finally get him? Did you finish him off with an arrow or did you slice him up with your sword?"

"I got lucky and shot him in the mouth. The oversized reptile crashed to the ground with the thing piercing his snout. It pissed him off something fierce. I made sure to clip his wings first, then avoided his acidic spitballs until I could circle around back to the throat.."

"And then you sliced it right across the jugular!"

Link nods. "It didn't last long after that. Panicked like a chicken with its head cut off until it bled out."

"Wow... That really is amazing." Zelda sighs "I can't help feeling terribly jealous of you. You get to go on all these incredible quests…” she glances at the guards around her. They weren’t avid fans of tales about monsters, and were trying to tune it out. It didn’t help their nerves, since this route was a bit off the beaten path and they had no idea what lurked in those woods. Well, they had some idea. Several of them bore scars from encounters with wild beasts from across the land, as well as human criminals. They don’t make eye contact with the princess, as they're busy scanning the trees for highwaymen or archers. The forest was growing eerily quiet.

Link stays alert, but keeps conversation to help the uneasiness. "Aw, don’t feel so bad. I mean, you’re out here now, that’s pretty exciting!" He smiles at her, hoping to inspire a bit of optimism.

Zelda sighs again. "I know, It’s just…. This whole wedding thing. Hylia knows We’ve been planning it for months… almost half a year, even.” she huffs. “I’ve been insisting on visiting the seal for longer than that. No one ever listens to me… It’s infuriating. I bet the only reason they’re letting me check now is so i don’t sabotage the wedding or anything.”

“Pft, don’t say that, they just don’t want some monster to crash your wedding.”

“So why only let me go now?”

“Ah, you know bureaucrats. Famous procrastinators.”

Zelda stifles a giggle. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

She gasps as her horse stops abruptly. The rest of the animals also stop and refuse to go any further. A large stone doorway, in ruins and overgrown with ivy, stood a little off the end of the path. They had reached their destination.

"...well, only you and I are supposed to enter the grove, so you'll have a little quiet time…" Link motions the rest of the escort to stand guard, and gets off his horse, proceeding to tie its reins to a tree.

Zelda gets off and does the same, inwardly cursing the overly complicated dress that she had to lift off the ground to keep from catching on the ferns. Damn her father for making her wear this for such an inappropriate occasion. The knight enters first, walking ahead to scope out the area. The princess rolls her eyes and hurries to catch up.

The clearing is eerily calm. The forest had been filled with the sounds of wildlife and birds singing, but here it was silent, aside from a slow breeze causing the leaves in the surrounding trees to rustle.

Link stops a few meters away from the sword in its seal, and she slowly comes to a stop a few feet ahead. Behind the blade in is pedestal is a carved mural of a fearsome eye, impaled by four swords and chained. It captivates her for a few moments, but remembering her audience, she breaks away from it and turns to Link.

"So...we have arrived…" she glances at the blade. "That is the Sacred blade I spoke of yesterday...the Four Sword. As you know, sealed away in its forged steel is Vaati, the wind mage... It is said that the body of one who touches the blade will be shattered to pieces,in mind and body. Legends say when the mighty wind mage attacked, a hero arose and saved the people of Hyrule from destruction. They go on to say that by using this sword, the one was as four, and the four combined their strength to seal him away for good."

Link looks at the sword, speechless in amazement. A few seconds of silence pass before the princess decides to break it. "Anyway...let's check the seal...step back a moment."

Suddenly, the sword slants violently in its pedestal.

The sky grows dark and a wicked laugh reverberates through the grove, and the two look around frantically to pinpoint the source. No sooner has the laugh ended then a jet black tendril snakes down and snatches the princess up from behind. A scream escapes her lips as she's instantly lifted more fifty feet into the air by a monstrous being, a horned mass of amorphous black with a single large red eye in the center of it. Six large wings keep the monster afloat and turn the once still air of the grove to a wild windstorm

The monstrosity laughs darkly, its pupil focused on the boy beneath them. "Have you some business with me? Or rather, I suppose you saw the seal was weakening! A shame you are too late to stop me!"

Zelda is kicks and thrashes in an attempt to escape his grasp. " Let me go! You won't get away with this, you disgusting beast! " Zelda tries to sound at least a little regal in her demands but just sounds ridiculous. But embarrassment is the least of her worries right now. The eye is now staring at her instead, a little put off by the outburst.

"Eh? I thought sensed a great power approaching, so I hid myself…." The demon holds her like a doll in front of him, his attention completely diverted from the knight. His single eye brightens up at the girl wrapped in his clutches. If he had a mouth, It would surely be curled into a hungry grin. " But my, what a lovely catch! Surely you must be some noble maiden!" Link stays frozen in place. He has no idea what to do and can only look on in terror. Meanwhile the beast introduces himself. " My name is Vaati. I am the great wind mage your ancestors sealed...but that seal is broken so I shall ravage this land yet again!" He laughs again. "Hoh hoh hoh! And what a darling gift awaits my return! I shall make you my bride! Onward, to my palace of winds!" He cackles and flies off in one direction, only to suddenly turn around and swoop down by the hero to knock him down with a gust of wind for good measure, and to let the boy know he had not forgotten him.

 


	2. Chapter 2

The monster hardly has to beat his six massive wings as he ascends rapidly into the sky, only slowing his flight once they pass the cloud layer. The air around them, however, never seemed to grow thin, or even cold. It takes a few minutes for Zelda to get over the dizzying height and nearly incapacitating vertigo that came with it. The princess had kept her eyes closed tight for a majority of the ascent, only opening them now that they weren’t going so fast. She clings tightly to the monster’s tentacle that wrapped around her torso. He was oddly cold to the touch, and wasn’t entirely solid. Judging from their height, Zelda decided it would be wisest to submit to the mage now, and escape later, when they were on solid ground. No sense in fighting him when they were so high up. Vaati had mentioned a ‘palace of winds.’ Surely that meant the building would be somewhere high up, like some tall mountain outside of Hyrule’s borders, right? She might as well just wait and see. As it was, she could only see a landscape of clouds before her. She takes an uneasy breath and turns to look at her captor.

Vaati held an ominous and unnatural and frightening presence. His massive body was shapeless and seemed to have no rhyme or reason to it, his only constant feature being the enormous red eye, lined with gold. Nothing was natural about him, she didn’t even think he had to breathe. He had only changed the air around them so she wouldn’t suffocate… She shivers. This was the creature who wanted to take her as a bride? It was unsettling. 

Well, that was her initial thought. As the monster roamed around the sky, she started to get the feeling they were going in circles. He grew less and less menacing and more and more annoying as he flew about aimlessly, It’s eye searching the clouds with an expression that could best be read as confusion. It dawned on her that he had no idea where he was going. 

Great, so not only was she kidnapped by a monster, she was kidnapped by an idiot.

At least her annoyance was mutual. As several long minutes of searching go by, An irritated growl emanates from inside the giant creature. By this time, her initial fear had long since descended into boredom, and he probably knew that. But it was his fault for forgetting his damn address. The creature mutters  to himself incoherently, sounding more frustrated by the second. Suddenly he shouted a triumphant “AHA!” and increased his speed, zeroing in on a faint shape that became visible in the clouds as they grew closer. Not expecting the sudden movement, Zelda yipes and clutches the tendril holding her as Vaati rush through the air.

The Palace of Winds only grows more impressive as they get closer. The floating castle was enormous, second only to Hyrule castle in size. The fortress sat on a floating island, tall and proud, the greenery of ivy and even trees accenting the lovely alabaster of the brick walls and red of the pointed dome rooftops. The palace consisted of several towers and a smaller island right by it, that held it’s own building. It was astounding to the princess that a structure of that size could float so naturally in the heavens, even in the mage's absence. At the same time, her hopes of escape dwindled. A mountain she could climb down. This was an entirely different matter. She felt sick.

The monster, mistaking her wide eyed expression for amazement, boasted, “Truly a magnificent dwelling, wouldn't you say? I'd settle for nothing less. I hope you find it to your liking, my darling…” She squirmed as a black claw began to gently caress her cheek, her stomach twisting with dread at the endearing words coming from such a terrifying beast. He cackled and added, “You  _ will _ be staying here for quite a while, after all.” 

Before they even enter, Vaati sends powerful black winds through the entire palace to rid it of whatever dust that had accumulated in his absence. Afterwards, he flies to the highest tower, entering the top floor of it through the large elegant doors on the balcony. A large bed sits in the middle of the room, decorated with several purple and black pillows and an intricate golden bed frame. There were bed tables on either side and a chandelier above. The walls were decorated with tapestries, and large rug covered much of the floor. Nothing there seemed to have aged at all, only because whatever magic the mage sent through the palace must have restored it to it’s original state… 

Zelda didn't have that much time to appreciate it, due to the fact she couldn’t ignore. This was a bedroom. And Vaati had just kidnapped her with the intention to make her his bride. She frantically hits the tendril holding her and struggles frantically to get free. 

The mage isn’t phased in the slightest. “Oh, come now, don’t be so feisty...” He shrinks his size to fit inside, then haphazardly tosses the princess onto the bed. His wings shrink inside and he hovers over her, four more tentacles whipping out from his shapeless body to pin her down before she can roll off. Her hands are pinned above her head, and her legs are spread apart. The princess panics, heart leaping in her chest as she fights to no avail to get free. She doesn’t waste her energy screaming, she knows no one can hear her. Even so, it’s not long before the struggling tires her out. her corset didn’t help the fact either, since it severely restricted her breathing as she starts to hyperventilate. She screws her eyes shut and braces herself. She was a virgin, not an idiot. She knew what was about to happen.

  
  


Except… it doesn’t. Vaati doesn’t even go so far as to rip her dress apart. She opens one eye as her breathing slows, confused.

The mage stares back, a blank expression in his eye. “This…. Something...something’s not right.”

The princess blinks in shock, then manages to pull one of her feet free and kick him in the eye, causing him to recoil a bit and release her. She sits up and shouts “Excuse you?! ‘Something isn’t right!? You’re damned right something’s not right!” She jumps off the bed and stomps straight up to him, sizing him up despite him being much larger. “Do you know who I am?! I am the  _ Princess Zelda _ of Hyrule! Do you have any idea what the extent of your crime is?! How  _ dare  _ you lay your filthy limbs on me! I’ll have you killed, you understand me!? Not just sealed away, actually-- ” She’s interrupted by the monster wrapping a tentacle around her mouth

The mage glares at her. “I’d keep that pretty mouth shut, if I were you. Keep in mind this is  _ my _ palace.  _ You  _ have no power here. Your threats mean  _ nothing. _ Neither your hero nor the  _ entire army _ of Hyrule has no chance of stopping me, even if it  _ could _ get to this fortress.” he releases her after a few seconds. 

She glares back, rubbing her cheek and adjusting her jaw. “So what’s the problem.” she smirks “Are you just impotent, then?”

The mage narrows his eye, irritated.

“So that’s it, isn't it? Well, I shouldn’t expect an abomination like yourself to actually be able to reproduce. But I guess that’s a good thing.” she crosses her arms, feeling confident now. “What a sad shame for you, unable to even enjoy the maidens you kidnap.” she shakes her head, mocking sympathy. “Why don’t you just go ahead and take me back, and we can forget this  _ ever _ happened.”

The mage growls. “Fat chance. You’re staying here until i figure out what the hell is going on” He turns and flies out the doors and off the balcony. “I’ll be back.” He flies out of sight. Zelda runs out to the balcony to see where he went, but he had already disappeared into the clouds. 

“UGH!!” She shouts and flips over a table as she reenters, shattering the vase that stood on it on the floor. She stomps around for a few seconds, then tests the door of the room. It wasn’t locked, but she didn't want to take her chances, in case Vaati hadn’t actually left the palace. She growls and slams the door shut, then collapses on the bed and screams into the mattress. This day couldn’t get much worse. She lays there for a few minutes until she calms down, and rolls over to stare at the ceiling for several more minutes. There was nothing she could do, and she hated it. 

She sighs and stands back up, deciding to snoop around. She checks the master bathroom, rather disappointed to see it was devoid of all kinds of supplies. There was no soap, or any sort cleaning item. Other than towels, a fancy hairbrush, and some other things, the place was empty. At least there was running water, so even if bathing wasn't possible, it was still usable for the necessary functions. 

After returning to the bedroom she snoops around a bit more. There are a few articles of clothing in his wardrobe, mostly different shades of purple. She takes one outfit out and inspects it. It was a tunic of some sort, and seemed about her size. She puts it back neatly, resisting the urge to try it on. Vaati also had some rings, necklaces, and earrings, all consisting of real gold, rubies, diamonds, and emeralds. Perhaps items meant to woo women from his previous life… when he was human.

She looks around the bedroom again, able to take it in this time. Yes, it was definitely true. Whatever form he took now, there was a time when Vaati had a human form. Either he had been too thoroughly corrupted by magic to change back, or this being was something left behind. Perhaps the original sorcerer had died long ago, and this beast was only a fraction of what was left behind. Neither option was good.

Zelda shudders. She hoped she hadn’t pissed him off with that stunt earlier. She sits back down on the bed, then as the gravity of her situation hits her again she lays down. This day had been exhausting. She just needed to shut her eyes for a little bit….


	3. Chapter 3

A blast of thunder outside wakes her up. Outside a frightening storm was roaring. Vaati was almost definitely back. Not knowing whether it was dark outside or just the clouds, Zelda gets up and walks up to the balcony to see what was going on. A few flashes of lightning reveal the silhouette of the mage flying back and forth over the palace as if pacing. She decided to ignore it, and she was able to for about five minutes before the windstorm started to get on her nerves. Enough to get her grab the bedside lamp and, once he got close enough,  throw it off the balcony so that it crashes loudly on the wall of a nearby tower, the sparks of the metal hitting the stone enough and ignite the oil inside and give a brief flash of light to get Vaati’s attention. 

“Hey! Give it a rest already!  _ Some _ people are trying to sleep!” She yells out once she can see the eye on her. 

“What the--!? Vaati flies up to the balcony, visibly irritated at her. “What gives you the right to throw my belongings out the window?!”

“Well, for one thing, you kidnapped me, and for another thing, You are  _ literally  storming around  _  and it’s loud and obnoxious! It’s not accomplishing anything, and I’m tired! Can’t you just...” she pauses as she thinks twice about what she’s about to say. If anything, it would give her a chance to escape. “...give it a rest? Take a nap or something.”

Vaati blinks, confused.

She takes a deep breath, still doubting how good of an idea this was. “Whatever you’re so rattled up about it, It would be more productive to sleep on it than to throw a temper tantrum… and when you wak up, you can think about it with a clear head… or… eye?”

Vaati gives her a look of disdain. “ I am a demon of incredible, unmatched power, who commands the skies and far more. I have no need for rest.”

She shrugs, trying to hold up a facade of good intentions. “Doesn’t mean you can’t give it a try. But as long as you’re not flying around causing a racket, I don’t care what you do.”

The mage considers it. “Fine” he shrinks and picks her up as he flies over the bed. “But don’t try anything. You’re sleeping  _ with _ me.”

She sighs. This had better work. “Sounds fine. Just don’t roll over and crush me.” 

The mage awkwardly floats down falls on the bed, summoning an extra arm to grab the blanket and throw it over them. It doesn’t even cover Vaati completely, and part of the monster’s body just oozes over the bed. She’s held below his eye, which just stares at the ceiling for a while. They’re just inches below the chandelier, and it’s hard to relax when so close so a pointy object.

The princess pretends to fall asleep first, with the hopes that Vaati may follow suit afterwards. Sure enough, after about ten minutes of staring at the ceiling and glancing at her from time to time, The enormous red eye slowly closes. Hopefully Vaati could will himself to fall asleep, after which, Zelda could get away from him and perhaps find some way down. She didn’t want to leave too early, but since the monster didn’t breathe or anything, she had no idea whether or not he was actually asleep. 

Then, about a half hour later, she and feel herself start to lower. Zelda opens her eyes, and noticed the chandelier slowly getting further away. She quickly turns to look back at Vaati, who was rapidly shrinking under her, his body dissolving into smoke that spread across the room below her. In a panic, Zelda rolls off the shrinking mass, leaving the covers behind and landing on the ground below with an alarmingly loud thump. Luckily, that didn't seem to affect the process. She looks at the still shrinking demon with alarm. Had she killed him? Perhaps he really was merely a fraction of a human consciousness, and now that he was unconscious… there would be nothing left.

Just as she starts to accept this theory, the creature stops shrinking. The sky had cleared up by now, enough for the full moon outside to offer the necessary light to see a small shape under the blanket. 

Zelda takes a step towards it curiously, freezing and nearly yelping in surprise when it begins to move. It had began to breathe, sharply at first, but mellowing out to that of relaxed slumber. Slowly, she approaches it and peels away the covers

Underneath was the face of a rather strange young man. His skin seemed a pale white under the little light offered by the full moon outside, with a simple tattoo under each eye. Atop his head was a hat not unlike that of Links, except it bore a golden crest around the rim with a red stone in front that glowed slightly in the darkness. Even stranger was his long smooth hair, that upon closer inspection, was a light shade of lavender. Definitely not a trick of the light. What was most surprising was how oddly gorgeous he looked... at least while he was sleeping. She stares at him fro a bit and lifts the covers off him a bit more to see a bit more. It was too dark, but from what she could see, the tunic he was wearing was torn in several places. He was curled up, making it even harder. She sighs and pulls the covers back over him, covering everything but his head. Even if he was attractive, he was still her captor. She had no idea what he would be like when he woke up. Not knowing exactly what to do but certainly not wanting to stay, she turns and leaves the room through the door in the back. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The castle is eerily quiet, completely devoid of the background noises and conversations of servants and guards that she was used to.Each step she takes down the spiral staircase down the tower echos through the entire stairwell, and every instinct screamed for her to turn back. Even so, she presses on. After reaching the base of the tower, she exits through a door onto a stone terrace adjacent to what might have been a garden before the mage was sealed. It was only dirt and weeds now, with some dead plants that looked like they’d disintegrate as soon as they were touched. A large fountain stood in the middle of the yard, bone dry since it hadn’t run in centuries. Zelda avoids meddling with the dead garden and took the stone path around it, heading into the building to the side of it. 

Hours passed as she roams the silent halls, soon getting lost in the darkness. She wanders aimlessly down the corridors light sparsely by stained glass windows, and lamps that flickered softly down the corridors. Part of this was just to sate her curiosity, but for the most part she was searching for possible tools to fly down, or at least places to hide for when the mage woke up and started looking for her. 

After such a long time in the dark palace, and as tired as she was, the large doorway at the end of one hall that was letting in the first light of dawn was a tremendous blessing. She’s a bit delirious as she makes a run for the opening, squinting at the light as she exits the building, slowing to a stop to let her eyes adjust. Then her heart sinks.

She had reached a dead end.

In front of the princess was a large balcony, with stone railing surrounding all sides but the very end, which lay open, creating a path that led to nowhere. The princess approaches the edge, one hand gripping the railing as strong winds tugged at her dress, threatening to knock her over. The clouds below had thinned enough to see hyrule in all its glory. She could see the Eldin province and the great mountain that presided over it, the great lake Hylia, the Faron Woods that lay not too far from the Minshi woods, and even the sandy Lanayru desert that lay far on the other side of the country. Then there was the castle, in which she had spent her entire life...it looked so small from up here.

How painfully ironic, that the ruler of a beautiful country such as this never really got to see it. And once she married, she never would. It was common knowledge that the princess was more than just royalty to Hyrule: She was the lifeblood of it. Legend had it the first princess of Hyrule was the direct descendant of a divine goddess who had given her immortal form to protect her beloved hylians from the dreaded demon king...and that divine blood lived on in the ladies of the royal family. It was the ‘great power’ the mage had referred to when he had first captured her. Such power could only belong to one lady at a time, so when she inevitably had an offspring to continue her bloodline...she would die in childbirth. All to continue the curse that had haunted her mother and all those before her. 

It was so cruel that these were the thoughts that came to her as she stood at the edge of the balcony. One step was all that would carry her off the precipice. She could end this for good. After all, what were her options? Live a predetermined life only to carry on the tradition? Or relinquish her fate to the monster that had snatched her from it? Was either option really worth it? She had found no way to escape, and even though she didn’t doubt that Link would come rescue her… she wasn’t sure she even wanted to go back. She knew this wasn’t just her tired mind speaking. She had contemplated taking this same action several times during the low points of her childhood, including when she had first heard of the royal family’s lineage. 

She knew this was inevitable. She could end this curse right now,, and cut off the bloodline of the goddess that had cursed her. There was too much that lie on her shoulders, far more than any young girl should have to carry.

Hopefully link and her father would forgive her for giving up. Hyrule would do fine without its princess.In the end, this would be better for everyone. 

She takes a deep breath...and begins to step over the edge.


	4. Chapter 4

Zelda had hardly fallen before a blast of air catches her and pushes her back onto the balcony. An unfamiliar voice speaks up from behind her. "I wouldn't do that. It's not exactly a pleasant flight down when you don't have wings to carry you." The speaker her grabs her hand, pulling her back the rest of the way. Before he can pull her back a safe distance from the edge, she yanks her hand free and whips around to confront him, Ready to fight if the need be.

It was the mage, or at least the man he had turned into. Now that he was awake and standing, he actually turned out to be a few centimeters shorter than her... through that may just be due to her higher-heeled shoes. He was at least taller than Link, bu she couldn't say for sure. He was dressed on one of the other outfits she had seen in the wardrobe, but the hat still rested on his head. A faint breeze blew around him, keeping his violet cape behind him. Furthermore, his hair was indeed a very bright lavender color, and his pale skin seemed to carry a light tone of the color as well. Although his face was significantly less attractive now, thanks to the conceited smirk spread across it. It made her want to smack him.

He must have sensed her animosity, since he takes a few steps back, away from her still-raised hand. "Whoa now, no need to get aggressive here, princess, I'm not going to hurt you…" He says, taking a few steps back from the frazzled girl, since her hand was still raised.

She lowers her hand. "Why did you do that?" She says quietly, unable to hide the dejected look on her face and dispirited tone in her voice.

"What? Saving you from a nasty demise? Or are you still asking about me kidnapping you?" He chuckles. "Well, the answer for both is the same, you're a very pretty young lady." he grins and Zelda attempts to punch him. He easily dodges the attack, grabbing her arm and proceeding to pull her forward.

"You bastard! Release me this  _instant_!" she struggles against his grip, to no avail. He's still unnaturally strong, even in this form. He takes several steps back, leading her away from the edge of the balcony and closer to the doorway.

"I think not. Not with you acting so ferociously. And I won't have you offing yourself while you're in my care" He says, pinning her arm on the wall with one hand. "You see, I have some questions for you, and you're certainly not leaving until they are answered."

" _You. You_ have questions...for  _me._ " She curls her lip up at him, no longer struggling, since he's not really hurting her yet and she'd rather keep it that way.

"Yes. That's what I just said." He says with a condescending tone. "You see, when a gigantic monster such as myself wakes up in a form they had forgotten they even  _had,_ it tends to raise some  _concerns._ I have no memory of this body, and I'm not exactly that fond of not knowing something. So what did you  _do?!_ What sorcery did you use to transfigure me?!" He demands, squeezing her wrist enough to make her wince.

"Nothing! I swear, You-you turned it your sleep, I was just as surprised as you!" she tugs at her hand and scratches her arm trying to get him to release his grip.

"I find that hard to believe. You must have known getting me to rest would do something" Vaati snarls, leaning closer. His nails start to dig into her wrist, and in retaliation, she knees him in the stomach as hard as she can. The blow was definitely enough to get him to back off; he releases her immediately and reels back, gasping for air.

"I told you,  _I DON'T KNOW!_ " Zelda rubs her wrist, and takes several steps back, knowing that hitting him probably wasn't the wisest decision.

The mage takes a few seconds to recover, And as he catches his breath, he shoots a cold look at the princess that fills her with dread for a second. But instead of retaliating, he sighs, dismissing the offense with a wave of his hand. "Very well. I'll take your word for it and figure this out myself. Now, how about I get you away from this precarious edge?" Vaati holds his hand out. "After all, there  _are_ safer ways to admire the view." he winks as he finishes the sentence.

She backs off, and glares at him. "And  _why_  should I trust you?"

"I never said you should." Vaati says. "I'm just offering you an alternative to suicide."

"I don't see how it's a  _good_ alternative."

"Perhaps I can convince you otherwise?"

Zelda looks back at the balcony, then to him again. Up until this point, her life had always been predictable. In just one day, Vaati had shattered that reality. Now he stood in front of her, holding his hand out and offering new possibilities. She had no idea what would happen next, but she decided to try being adventurous and accept the risk. Somehow, she doubted Vaati had any real intention to harm her. She hesitates for a second, then slowly rests her hand on his.

"Okay. Convince me."


	5. Chapter 5

 

 

 

"Okay, Convince me."

Vaati smiles at her change of attitude. His stomach still hurt a bit from her kick, which, in retrospect, might have been deserved. It wouldn't do either of them any good to let out his aggression on her, especially when she wasn't responsible.

Well, not entirely responsible. In his mind, she had still more or less caused this.

After taking her hand, He transforms to his monstrous form once more, the hand holding hers turning into a large claw as another came around and picked her up from behind. He beats his wings a few times until they rise above the wall to his yard, then lands in the garden the princess had passed through the night before. He sets her down carefully and transforms back to his human form seamlessly. He had, of course, done that earlier in the day when he started looking for Zelda, but he couldn't help but marvel at how easily he could revert back to this form that he didn't even know existed the day before.

While he had been searching, he had also noticed the sad state of the garden area, and had cleared it of weeds and fixed the fountain so it was spurting water again. Of course, the area still seemed dead without any greenery other than the stubborn ivy that prospered on the walls. Unfortunately, even with all his powers, he couldn't bring anything back to life, especially when it had died so long ago.

Vaati glances over towards Zelda, who doesn't seem too impressed with the empty garden either. She looks a bit annoyed too, as she undoes the ribbon keeping her hair up and fixes her ponytail. Perhaps he should have given her a warning before taking off…oh, well, she wasn't saying anything about it, so it probably wasn't that big of a deal.

He had other things to worry about. Something to impress her to get her to be a bit more willing to stay. So what would she like? Something she didn't have to leave the palace for. He thinks about the things he had found when flying around… and decides to head towards the thing that's closest.

He grabs her attention away from the dead plants around them. "I know, I know, this area needs a bit of work, magic can only do so much. Expect it to be fixed by tomorrow" He promises, keeping a light tone about his voice despite the fact that he wasn't thrilled with the aspect of doing that much work. "Until then, I have something else you might like." He gestures for Zelda to follow, and walks towards a large set of doors. She makes a distrustful face, but keeps pace with him.

Okay, time to blow her away with some flair. Figuratively, of course. The mage places one hand on either door, and presses into them a bit before forcing them both open all at once. At the same time he summons several small balls of fire around him, which fly into the great room and light each and every lamp inside. The fire wasn't entirely necessary, since the room already had plenty of natural light already, but did help presentation significantly.

And it looked like it worked. Zelda's eyes light up in amazement, as she was faced with an astounding library that rivaled Hyrule castle's own in size and content. It was three stories high, with a grand atrium in the center and an enormous window on the far end, with doors next to it that led to a balcony. Spiral staircases connected the floors, and the entire room just felt incredibly open. "Wow… this...this is incredible…" she looks around at the countless tomes in the room, most of them doubtlessly older than any of the ones in the royal collection. As she walks by a bookshelf, she pulls one out and observes the aged leather cover. The title as written in an older hylian dialect, forgotten by a majority of the country's citizens."Where did you get all these?" she traces her hand over the cover, feeling its texture.

"I assume they're mostly stolen." Vaati shrugs as he walks up to her and carefully takes the book from her to observe it himself, carefully opening it and flipping through the pages. "This one, from what I can understand, is a careful record of various demons encountered in the early years of hyrule…." He makes a mental note to come back to this one later as he hands it back. "If you're interested in that sort of thing."

Zelda nods and takes the book back.

"When you're finished with that, just leave it on a table. It will be easier than looking for in in the shelves. I don't think this place is organized at all." He doesn't make eye contact with her as he skims the shelves, stopping momentarily to pull a book out and tuck it under his arm.

Luckily, she doesn't seem to be paying much attention, still marveling at the grandiose room and skimming some of the shelves herself. "This place… really is amazing…" She says under her breath. It was a good thing she hadn't stumbled upon this room earlier. It would have ruined the surprise.

"I take it you're fond of reading." Vaati chuckles. "That's good, because you're going to be staying here awhile while I get things straightened out."

"That's fine. You can go." She says, only partly listening, eyes the sitting area in the middle of the library. "I need to brush up on my old hylian anyway." She walks over towards the area, leaving the mage by the books.

At least this would distract her for awhile. The mage summons some familiars which looked like smaller versions of his own monster form, except only with two pairs of wings and a little set of fangs. The creatures were just extensions of himself, without any mind of their own, really. He hands each of them a book from the ones he had pulled out so far, and they take them delicately an fly them up to the third floor of the library. Afterwards, he goes back to searching the shelves, irritated with himself for keeping this place in such disarray. Some of the tomes didn't even have titles, so some would be about ancient legends and some would just be cookbooks...

It suddenly hit Vaati that the girl hadn't eaten since they had arrived, and likely her last meal had been the morning before. He himself hadn't noticed how hungry he was until now. He hadn't exactly felt that stellar when he woke up, and that would definitely explain it. As a monster, he had completely forgotten what hunger really felt like. In fact, Zelda probably wasn't used to it either.

He speaks up to get her attention. "Ahem… princess?" She looks up from her book, already looking pretty comfortable in the chair she picked out. He continues "Is there anything else I can get for you? Like something to eat, perhaps?"

Zelda hadn't really noticed her hunger either. Which was surprising, since she knows that breakfast would have been served in the castle about this time, and she had slept through dinner and lunch the day before. With the events of the last twelve hours, she never noticed.

"If you can find some pastries and some tea, that would be much appreciated... but I'm not fussy." she lies. She didn't exactly want him to bring back any old food, but decided it best not to test his hospitality too much.

Vaati nods, transforming and flying through the open window, leaving the princess to explore the library.


	6. Chapter 6

The day goes by relatively quietly. Vaati had clearly raided the castle kitchens to provide breakfast, as Zelda easily recognized the royal chef's cooking. They didn't really talk, and Vaati didn't stay with her long. She saw him here and there, looking through bookshelves, occasionally grabbing one to six at a time, then flying to the third floor of the library with them. 

It was all very curious, but she decided to let him be. He was a bizarre character. One moment he was genuinely terrifying and the next he was showing her a massive collection of books and even offering to get her food. He didn't really seem bipolar, and clearly he hadn't done those nice things to manipulate her, or else he wouldn't be avoiding her now. Perhaps he really did have good intentions? At this point, she had no real way of knowing. 

 Vaati’s familiars stuck around, perching on the bookshelves around her, and sometimes flying to meet up with others, sometimes flying away. Like a dozen really weird birds. Despite their weirdness, they did give a lively feel to the place. Although as time passed and several of them followed her around the library, Zelda began to suspect they were merely there for surveillance. Maybe they were literally extra eyes for Vaati. The thought he could be watching her right now made her a bit uneasy. She was used to eyes being on her, of course. At any given moment, at least one guard had to be watching her. Unless she was sleeping or bathing, of course. But she didn't know Vaati, and while they might just be here to keep her from jumping out the window, she still wasn't fond of them. 

Especially when she was looking for historical records. This huge collection of stolen books were likely the cause of all the holes in Hyrule’s history, and hopefully contained some records that she had been looking for. But every single time she found something interesting or relevant, a bat flew down and swiped it, proceeding to carry it up to the third floor. This happened again, and again, and again, and swatting at them really didn’t earn her anything but exhaustion and scratches. She had to have fought them as best she could about seven times before giving up and looking for fictional stories instead. They didn't stop her then. 

Either there were things Vaati didn't want her to see, or he was in a mad search for history books as well. She guessed the former, and vowed to get a hold of them eventually.  

Zelda occupied herself for a few hours, read one novel in its entirety before deciding to get up and find a bathroom. She looks up at a bat. “I don’t suppose you know your way around this castle?”

It just stares at her blankly. 

“Didn’t think so.” She rolls her eyes and heads for the nearest dor to exit. A pair of bats follow behind her. As she opens the door, she notices them, and holds her hand out as if scolding a dog. “NO. Stay. Go bother Vaati.”

They don’t respond, so she glares at them, runs outside the door, and slams it shut. On the other side, she can hear two thumps as the little familiars hit the door, then she hears two more as they try to get through again. 

“I’m just going back to the tower, calm down. I’ll be right back.” 

There were probably other bathrooms, but she wasn’t in the mood to go hunting. Besides, shed been sitting for a while, so might as well stretch out her legs and take the longer walk.

By the time she gets there, she finds to her delight the place had been completely restocked. There was a variety of soaps and perfumes available as well. He had probably taken care of this while he was out getting food. In any case, it was a pleasant surprise.

The mage would probably be busy for a while longer. He had never really stopped looking around the library, so she could guess that whatever he had been looking for, he hadn't found it yet. And he probably wouldn’t for a long time. 

In any case, the temptation of a relaxing bath was too great to turn down. She could dry everything off afterwards. After starting the water, She removes the cape from her back and painstakingly struggles to get the fancy dress off. By the time she’s done, she’s sure she ripped it at least three time, in three different places. Oh well, It was still nice to get out of that damned corset for a while. She had never worn it for so long, so it was a relief to be able to breathe freely again.

A shame the water wasn’t really warm at all.  The fact the palace had piping or a water source at all was nothing short of a mystery. Maybe it got it from the clouds? Any answers would just raise more questions. The temperature sends a shiver up Zelda’s spine, but she forces herself to get in anyway. It would just be annoying to get re-dressed at this point.

Leaning against the side of the bath, she closes her eyes and reflects on the recent events. Today would have been her wedding. There would be a parade in castle town, and a grand celebration across the kingdom. There were already hundreds of foreigners who had traveled to witness the occasion. It would take place right as the sun set, her favorite part of the day. There would be a massive feast, and thousands of gifts from all over the country and beyond.

It wasn’t a day she had been looking forward to at all. No, she dreaded it. If she hadn't gotten kidnapped, she'd be getting married in just a matter of hours… to some older man she didn't even know. Perhaps that was her fault. Since she was 13, she had rejected every suitor that had come to the palace, and had sometimes even sabotaged them. Nothing serious, usually it was letting their horses lose or pulling some prank on them to embarrass them. Sometimes she just acted like a bitch to them. She had it down to an art by this point. And there was no doubt that his had annoyed her father to no end. Five years of this had pressured him to finally arrange one without her consent, before she got too old. Today she turned 18, a day her father had deemed perfect for the wedding. How ironic that her kidnapper planned to marry her too. In doing so he had essentially helped her avoid this ‘suitor’ too. Maybe this whole fiasco was a blessing in disguise.

Except it really wasn’t. Vaati wasn’t a prince cursed to a monstrous form, like those fairy tales she had read. He was a monster who just so happened to take human form. He was the same beast who had kidnapped her and had terrorized hyrule in the past. Sure, the mage’s human form was significantly more easy on the eyes, but Zelda had no idea how much blood he had on his hands. There was just so much she didn’t know. He probably wasn’t going to hurt her… at least not intentionally. Although the way he had grabbed her and demanded answers… was pretty frightening. Maybe he realized that, considering he didn’t retaliate after she kicked him. 

But his niceness was still confusing. Looking back, he probably just wanted to keep her around with as little fighting as possible. Especially because he was so obviously distracted with something else. Clearly something important. Something she was starting to want to see for herself.

After enjoying a nice long soak her royal schedule normally wouldn't allow, Zelda dries off and with some difficulty she manages to get her clothes back on. There was a comfortable looking bathrobe hanging up, but she decided against stealing it. She also decided against putting the corset back on, and without anywhere to really hide it, she shoves it under Vaati's bed. That was something she could take care of later.

After cleaning up, she puts her hair in a quick braid over her shoulder, and heads back downstairs. When she arrives back at the library, it's still dead quiet, and to her knowledge the mage hadn't even left. She took another novel and read until some familiars brought in lunch, then later dinner. Zelda didn't particularly mind the day being so uneventful. Might as well be optimistic.

As it got late, she began to suspect Vaati had either left or passed out. She notices the bats had disappeared, so clearly something was going on. Her curiosity gets the better of her, and she heads upstairs to check.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

As she reaches the third floor, she finds it in total disarray. Books are thrown all over the ground, and almost a dozen of them surround Vaati. The mage is, in fact, still conscious, but the way he's leaning on his arm and barely keeping his head up, it's surprising he hasn't passed out. Had he been at this all day? She couldn't tell, since his back was to her. 

She tiptoes closer, careful not to disturb him. That doesn't make a difference though, because she had hardly taken two steps before his hand slips and he bashes his head on the desk, completely on accident. 

“URGH!! HHhrrhh.. ow…”  he takes his hat off and holds his forehead, rocking a bit in his chair. The cap he drops on the desk next to him. 

Zelda winces. That sounded like it hurt. Vaati grumbles to himself, rubbing his head with one hand as he props the book he had been reading backup with another. “Tch, what’s the use…” she can hear him say, right before he slams the books shut and tosses it to the side, then slumps over the desk, head buried in his arms. He doesn’t get up for a while. Long enough for the princess to creep closer, until she’s right behind him.

The cap catches her eye more than anything. Vaati had always worn it, at least around her, and it didn’t seem to be much more than a fancy trinket. But now it seemed… alluring. Hypnotic, almost. She steps to the side of Vaati where the hat is, and starts to reach for it....

She blinks a few times and shakes her head. The mage was mumbling something, which was enough to snap her out of it. It was mostly curses, but she could hear tidbits like “it’s hopeless/There’s nothing/i’ll never find--” 

This was new. He was legitimately distraught. Zelda hesitates. It was against her better judgement, but she pitied him. She had no idea what had upset him, but maybe she could comfort him at least a little? At least if she could learn what he was so upset about.

She places one hand on the desk between him and the cap, and cautiously reaches for his shoulder with the other one… then decides against that. She wasn't sure what she should say in this situation.

“....What’s wrong?”  _ Genius. _

The mage jolts up in his chair, spooked by her sudden appearance. He stutters as he answers the question. “I-It's nothing! What are you doing up here?!” 

“You never said I  _ couldn’t _ come upstairs.” The pity is starting to wear off.

Vaati blinks. His eyes have bags under him, and his face is wet with tears. He hurriedly wipes them. “How much did you see?”

“Well, I came in right as you banged your head, if that helps.”

Vaati lets out an annoyed sigh.

“I’m guessing you couldn’t find what you were looking for?” Zelda says.

“No.” The mage growls, rubbing one of his eyes and pushing his bangs out of the way. 

“Which was…?” She presses. At this point, she’s just annoyed.

“None of your business.” Vaati pauses as he runs his hands through his hair, then glances at the hat. “Listen, just go to bed, we can discuss this later.” He reaches for the article. 

Except he wasn’t fast enough. Zelda knew what he was looking at without having to turn her head, and without thinking, she snatches the item before he can, and takes several steps back.

“Did it have anything to do with this?!” She looks at the hat closer. It felt oddly weightless in her hands, and emitted a sort of energy she couldn't put into words. She takes a few steps back, and looks back at the mage, who was shooting her a venomous glare. 

“Give it back.”

“So it does.” the princess keeps backing away as Vaati gets out of the chair.

“It's just a cap that I haven to  _ like _ .” Vaati takes a step towards her. “Give it back to me.  _ Now. _ ”

“Why? What's so special about it?” She matches his stride, careful to avoid any books on the ground behind her. If he really wanted that back, surely he would have just taken it by now, right?

Vaati sneers, and holds his hand out. “I won’t ask again.”

The pieces are coming together. She knew he should be fully capable of taking it back. The only reason he  _ hadn’t _ was because he  _ couldn’t.  _ Which meant she might actually have some leverage on him. It was a gamble, but it was one that was worth taking. “I wouldn’t can that  _ asking _ as much as  _ demanding _ ” Zelda stops backing up, and smirks confidently. “If you want it so bad, just take it.”

Needless to say, he wasn't expecting this. The surprise turns to anger pretty quickly. “Don’t think I  _ won’t! _ ” Vaati growls, raising up his hands as if preparing a spell.

“Go ahead.” She challenges

“I mean it! This is your last chance”

She crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow. 

“....okay seriously, please give that back.” He drops his hands as well as the glare.

Zelda blinks. “Wow, funny how polite you get without your precious powers.” She takes a step towards him, eyes bright. She could really do anything she wanted right now., and he was powerless against her. Making sure her grip is still tight, she turns the cap over in her hands.  “How far are you willing to go to get this back?”

The mage takes a slow breath. “What… do you want?”

“First, You are to answer the question I asked. In detail. Secondly, from this point forward, you are not to terrorize Hyrule again. Am I clear? ”

“ _ Crystal,  _ your  _ majesty. _ ” Vaati hisses. “Anything  _ else? _ ”

“Maybe some other time. Now take a seat, and explain what all  _ this”  _ she gestures at the massive mess around them “was for.”

The mage rubs one of his eyes again. “I've been searching through these books… for records… on myself. Some from this library, most of them I took from other places in hyrule just today.” 

“And… you're upset because you can't find anything that flatters you.” Zelda pinches the bridge of her nose. “Goddesses, your ego is so infla--"

“ _ No _ , that's not it!” Vaati says defensively. “If I was looking for that, I'd have already found it! THAT'S ALL THERE IS! There is  _ no shortage _ of stories about how I terrorized Hyrule, and every one of them so far has been different. I've been blamed for regicide, genocide, plagues, horrible storms; I'm the monster people tell their kid is going to eat them if they don't behave. And  _ BELIEVE ME,  _ I'd be  _ flattered  _ by that any other day.” 

Zelda lowers her hand and gives him a look of confusion. “So… what's the problem, then?”

“The _problem_ is….” the mage scratches his head and looks down. “This morning I woke up in a body I didn't recognize and a voice that wasn't mine. And for some reason, it _feels_ familiar, it _feels_ right, but it's _not._ " He pauses for a moment, but the girl doesn't say anything, so he continues. “I knew something was off the moment I brought you back. The castle was hard to find, and the rooms were too small, and then with _you…_ I couldn't feel anything. And the more I looked for answers, the more I realized _just how much I don't remember._ Who I am... _”_ he clenches his fists. “Or who I _was.”_

_ “ _ You… don't remember anything prior to being sealed.”

The mage nods solemnly. “I've checked history books, monster encyclopedias, and any unmarked book hoping to find a journal of some sort. It's all just dead ends.” He pulls his legs up and essentially curls up in a ball. “I don't know what to do.” He whimpers.

Zelda doesn't know how to respond. This man, who she had made up to be this great scary monster, was breaking down in front of her. He seemed so much smaller now. Pitiful, even.

It was no surprise that Vaati's humanity had been erased with time. Nobody cared how he became who he was, Only that he was a threat that must be kept sealed. But at the same time, Zelda was aware that the royal family had kept its share of secrets. She had even done a bit of research on the wind mage, and had never really found any sort of origin story. For all she knew, he could have fallen victim to a curse that corrupted his mind and was just now recovering. Looking at the cap in her hand, she didn't doubt that. But then again, he had worn that the whole time he was having this crisis, so there was the chance that it didn't affect his mind at all.

She really didn't know anything about him… and yet she probably knew more than he did. It was a strange position to be in. Still, she felt she at least do something to comfort him. Not that she had to, she just felt like that would be right.

She sets the cap on the desk in front of him. “I'm sorry… this must be hard for you.”

Vaati looks up at the hat, then sighs and slowly stands back up, picking it up as he does, but he doesn't say anything. 

“But you know… you could use this.” 

Vaati turns towards her, giving her a look of doubt. “ _ Really. _ ”

“Think about it this way. Do you have any idea how many people would kill for a fresh start? You don't know whether you were better or worse before you lost your memory. No one on hyrule is alive to remember your crimes, and there are no records of you being human. If I were you, I'd use this to start over.”

“You think  _ I _ deserve a second chance.”

“If I'm being honest… probably not.” 

Vaati scoffs.

“But you have one, and that's all that really matters.”

“Princess, I  _ can't  _ just turn over a new leaf.”

“Well, I'm not saying you have to do  _ that.  _ Just cut down on the really serious crimes, like murder, destroying towns, kidnapping princesses…”

He gives her a look for that last one. 

“You  _ did _ kidnap me.”

Vaati rolls his eyes. “Fine, I can take you home now.” 

She blinks in disbelief. “Wait, Really?”

“Yeah, really.” The mage offers his hand out. “Hyrule castle is just a short flight away. If I'm going to change my ways or whatever, that would be the best place to start, don’t you think?” 

Zelda backs up. “Um, yeah… about that…”

He drops his hand. “Seriously? You've been trying to get away since I snatched you up! Now all of a sudden you want to stay?!”

“Not forever! Just until everything back home calms down a bit?”

Vaati is absolutely dumbfounded. “Why in the goddesses’ names would you  _ ever  _ want to stay? I took you here against your will, this is your ticket out!”

“Okay okay! Here's the thing. I was supposed to get married today, and I really…   _ really _ don't want to.”

“... You've got to be kidding me.”

“Vaati, this person could be fifty for all I know! Given the choice between that and sticking around her for a few more days… or a week, I'd prefer the latter.”

The mage doesn't seem impressed. She decides to add something that sounded a bit less selfish. 

“And besides, you probably need someone to keep you company, and keep you on the right track.” she smiles kindly, hoping that would be convincing enough. 

It was, and the mage gives in. With a sigh, he says  “Alright, I'll tell you what. You can stay for a few more days. If you change your mind, I’ll take you back home immediately. Sound fair?

“Yes, that's fair.” The girl nods and yawns. “I’m exhausted.” she stretches. “You should probably get some rest too. You look like you're about to pass out.”

“I'm not--" He yawns. “I'm not  _ that _ tired.” He says. “Here, I’ll lead you back.”

Zelda decides to let him have this, despite the fact she already knew how to get back. She follows him close behind as he puts the cap back on his head. 


	7. Chapter 7

Vaati leads the princess through the halls quietly. He’s tired, and still processing why in the Hylia’s name Zelda would be so keen on staying. Her explanation made sense, sure, but considering who he was, and what he had done… he simply couldn’t fathom why she would consider this a better option. This palace would become just as confined as her own soon enough. As soon as she noticed that, he could take her home.

Still, it was a real inconvenience to him. Babysitting some spoiled princess wasn’t very high on his list of things to do, even if it wouldn’t be for long. He had no doubt in his mind that she was staying out of pity, and quite frankly, that infuriated him. Besides, he was more concerned with this troublesome amnesia spell of his. He didn’t need her as much as she needed him, and he didn’t want to worry about saving this girl the next time she resolved to throw herself off the edge. Why should he care about what she does anyway? He glances over his shoulder. Well, she was pretty, for one thing...

Zelda isn’t looking at him, she seems far more transfixed on the stained glass windows as they walk by. “You sure have eccentric tastes…” she chuckles. “Are they self portraits?”

Vaati raises an eyebrow, stopping to give the windows a closer look himself. They were all eyes made of purple, red, and a small amount of green glass. “I...I suppose.”

She snickers again. “Wow. Did you make them yourself or did you force some poor soul to make all of them?”

“Magic, probably.” the mage shrugs. “Just assume that’s the answer to everything.” He starts walking again

Zelda pouts at the relatively boring response and continues following him. “What about the staff, then?”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, this palace is way too big to just belong to one man. Do you really just use magic to keep maintain it? Doesn’t that get lonely?”

Vaati sighs. “Princess, I’ve been here all of one day, I don’t _know._ ” He growls. “I can’t answer any of your questions. I’m in the dark about it as much as you are.” He stops at a door, opening it and checking inside. It was a relatively empty and dark room. Armor, a large sword, and shield hung on a wall inside, along with a bed. No, that wouldn’t do for sure. He closes it and keeps walking. At the next door, he finds the same thing.

This time Zelda peeks inside too. “Seems like you _did_ have staff of _some_ sort.”

“Or an army.” He closes the door and looks down the hall which had doors like these on both sides. “It seems you were right.” He turns around and heads back.

“Of humans? Or monsters?”

“Considering humans hate me, I’m gonna take a wild guess and say it’s monsters.”

“People don’t--” She stops when the mage give her a annoyed glance. “I mean… i’m sure… I don’t think… uh…” she scratches the back of her head uneasily. “I don’t… hate you.”

“Cute. But your sentiment doesn’t exactly help the matter.” Vaati huffs and turns back around with a flick of his cape to the side. “Besides, I don’t need this country to like me. As long as they fear me enough not to bother me and let me do as I please, I couldn’t care less.”

“Nice guy.” the princess scoffs. “I thought you said you would turn over a new leaf...”

“ _You_ are the one who suggested I take a fresh start. I never said I would make a complete 180.” The mage says in a condescending tone. Despite her looks, that girl was positively annoying. Vaati could easily just leave her to find her own place to sleep, but here he was exploring this enormous castle to find a fitting guest room. Preferably one far away from his own suite. Actually, maybe closer would be better… he stops and directs his hand towards a window, causing it to dissipate, then jumps four feet up onto the sill so he can look outside. The top of the tallest tower on the palace was where he slept, maybe he could look for windows along that tower that could be big enough for a guest bedroom.  As long as it was in a place he could remember, he could get up earlier than Zelda, fly down to her window, and simply pluck her out of bed. Then he could easily fly her back to her own castle and place her there, and she wouldn’t be a problem anymore.

He feels a tug on his cape. “Hey, what do you think you’re doing? You’re perching like a cat, you know, it looks ridiculous. Get down.”

Vaati doesn’t even dignify that with an answer. He simply turns his arm into a large clawed one to snatch her up, then jumps out the window carrying her behind him, and transforms the rest of the way mid-fall. Of course, the princess screamed when he picked her up and yelled at him the whole way to the window. Something about “You can’t just pick people up like that”, “give me a warning” and comments about how rude he was.

He opens up the next window, finds the room to his liking, and fixes it up for her. “You can sleep here for the night.” He haphazardly drops her on the bed, which she almost bounces off of.

“Hey!” She quickly rights herself and stands up. “That’s no way to treat a princess!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you want me to tuck you in and read you a bedtime story?” Vaati mocks, the look of his eye making up for the fact he can’t smirk without a mouth.

“I’m not five.” She crosses her arms.

“That’s good, I was afraid I’d have to change your diaper.” the mage laughs.

The girl growls and balls her fists in annoyance. “Alright, fine! Forget it, You’re dismissed.”

“Dis-- Excuse me?! Dismissed?! I’m not your servant, _princess,_ you can’t tell me what to do!!”

“Oh really?” she sits down on the bed and crosses her legs defiantly. “What would you like to do instead?” She smirks at him, knowing he probably planned to leave anyway.

“...nothing. I’ll go. But not because you _dismissed_ me.” the mage backs off from the window. “The bathroom is down the hall… somewhere. You’ll find it. Now rest well.” He shuts the window and seals it with magic, then flies up to his own chambers.

Landing on the balcony and transforming back, he takes one last look at the night sky before walking back in and closing the curtains. As he got ready for bed, he went over his plans in his head. Wake up early, take the princess home, and then start working on reviving the monster army that clearly resided here. That shouldn’t be too difficult, and once he made up his mind regarding what he’d like to do, he could put that army to good use. Getting the princess back would be hardest. If he just flew down he could get shot. That wasn’t really a concern for him, but as troublesome as the girl was, he’d be devastated if any harm came to her.

“Wait, what?” He says out loud, in response to his own thoughts. He couldn’t have already gotten attached to her. She was a spoiled princess, probably used to getting her way and having droves of servants doing everything for her. She’s just naive, egged on by the stories that adventurer would share. Still… it would be a shame sending her home already…

He shakes his head. Damn it! There he goes again! He couldn’t help it. Those wishes of hers to stay and her adventurous attitude were genuine, he could tell. Sure, she was headstrong, snarky, and a bit condescending… a girl after his own heart if he was being honest. But under that she really was sweet and cheerful. Not to mention ambitious. She was dangerous. If she stayed any longer, he may grow too attached to let her go.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

    “Hey… hey sleeping beauty, wake up.” Zelda has a hand on Vaati’s shoulder and is gently shaking him to get him up

    “Mmgh….” the mage rolls over and curls into a tighter ball under the covers.

    “Vaati, wake up, it’s past noon! I’m starving!” She grabs his shoulder with both hands and shakes more violently.

    “UGGHHH I’M UP, I’M UP!!” Vaati swats her hand away. He sits up and rubs his eyes before the realization hits him he overslept. The princess was up first. “Ugh, why are you up so early?”

“Early? I said it was past noon!”

Vaati blinks a few times in disbelief. “...I slept until noon?”

“Yeah, And you don’t exactly have any food here, I know because I’ve be scavenging since about 7 o’clock! And that’s late for _me_!”

Vaati grabs his hat and puts it on. “Ugh, okay, okay, I’ll get you something.” He groans in defeat, not because he had to get food but because his entire plan for today was foiled.

“And while you’re at the castle, can you grab my wardrobe and some of my furniture? I’m not wearing that dress again.”

“How did you know the food was from--” Vaati turns and looks at the princess, who seems to have wrapped herself in the blankets from her bed, but not that well, as it kept slipping down and she had to keep adjusting it. “Are you… naked under that?”

“What?! No! I've got underclothes on!” Without really thinking, she moves the blanket to prove it. Vaati immediately adverts his eyes and turns his head away. She quickly moves the blanket back. “Listen, I’m not about to wear that same dress again. It’s starting to stink.”

The mage averts his eyes. “You could have asked me to wash it or something.”

She raises a brow and crosses her arms. “Really.”

“A princess shouldn’t just walk around in her skivvies” He mutters, still avoiding looking at her out of embarrassment.

“I've got a blanket.”

“That's not the point.”

“Oh, what _is_ the point then?” She throws the blanket onto the ground into his line of sight. “Is the almighty wind mage Vaati flustered so easily that he can't stand a girl wearing a totally conservative set of underclothes?” she glances down at The mage’s tunic thrown haphazardly onto the floor. “It’s more than you're wearing.”

“OKAY, FINE, I GET IT" He tosses his own covers off himself and over her head, and by the time she gets them off he's already summoned a new set of clothes onto his person and started walking out the door, keeping his hand to the side of his face so as not to see her.

Zelda chuckles in amusement. Vaati really did get flustered easily.  “Hey, You know, after you go and get me something you deem _appropriate_ I want to go somewhere… but I don’t want you carrying me, I think I’d rather… ride on your back.”

“Or what, you'll keep wearing your underwear around?” he growls.

“I could go without bathing too. Pick your poison.” She shrugs.

“Okay, field trip it is. Great that we got that all settled.” Vaati shudder and opens up the door to the balcony and promptly jumps off the edge and flies away.

Zelda just falls back on the bed laughing hysterically. Damn, it only took a little bit of inappropriate behavior to ruffle that poor idiots feathers. Her father would have a cow if he saw that. She couldn’t get a good view of Vaati's face, but the tips of his ears had grown red as he ran out.


	8. Chapter 8

Vaati flies down towards the castle bitterly. Everything about this morning had gone wrong. He was furious and disappointed in himself for sleeping in and letting it happen. Now instead of being rid of her like he'd hoped, he was basically going to be moving her in! It's not like he could take her back while she was awake. She would doubtlessly guilt him into letting her stay. He growls to himself as he lands a decent distance from the castle. Oh well. He couldn't do anything about her now. At least he could cheer himself up a bit with a small amount of mischief…

The mage had decent knowledge regarding his powers, so all he had to do teleport closer to castle town, then shapeshift once or twice and teleport past some walls a few more times to infiltrate Hyrule Castle. He disguised himself as one of the servants and approaches the kitchen, entering it carefully.

Lunch had already ended, so the kitchen was busy with servants coming in and throwing some stuff out, as well as cleaning the dishes used for cooking. There was still plenty of leftover food that hadn't been wasted yet, so it looks like he got there just in time.

Clearing his throat, Vaati raises a hand and yells "Hello, can I get everyone's attention?"

The chefs and guards all twist around in a panic, since the mage had done this same thing last time.

"You people just don't learn." The mage smirks as he lets loose a burst of magic he had been channeling, which turns everyone in the room into a stone statue. Lowering his disguise, he wastes no time grabbing a huge platter, and balancing it on a small cyclone so it floats in front of him at waist height, like a shopping cart.

He takes his time casually picking the tastiest looking meals and placing them on the platter, and has it follow him around as he fills it up. Right as he finishes, another servant enters the room.

He doesn't even have time to scream before Vaati turns on his heel and blasts him with a ball of magic, turning him to stone as well. Then, to the mage's amusement, the busboy happened to be carrying a platter of unwanted desserts. "Oooh, I'll just go ahead and take  _that_  off your hands..." he purrs gleefully as he has another small cyclone lift it away from the statue and pull it over to him. "Okay, that should do it for food.." he muses, sticking one of the pastries from the desert tray into his mouth as he heads over to the section of the kitchen with sauces, grabbing a ladle on the way. Inspecting each one, the mage finally decides one the messiest looking one that would probably stain the worst. That gets picked up with magic as well and moved over to the nearest statue. Whistling a tune, he uses the ladle to casually scoops a hearty amount of sauce onto the servant's head, so it runs over their face. He cheerfully repeats this process with everyone in the room. Vaati only stops for one of the statues, which happens to have a mustache. Snickering, he snaps one side of it off and goes back to wasting another ladle full of sauce on the poor man's face.

When all of that's done and he's satisfied with his work, Vaati sends out a second burst of magic that reverses the stone spell on everyone, then teleports out, leaving those poor servants in a panic as they hurriedly wipe away the sauce that blinded them.

The mighty wind mage giggles like a child upon rematerializing in the clearing he landed in earlier. That prank was even funnier the second time! He just couldn't keep a straight face at the thought of that one chef discovering his impromptu haircut. Too bad he could probably only get away with this a few more times.

There was so much potential his stone power had, so many possibilities that could surely surpass this practical joke, but for now he had to focus on getting the princess's stuff. Ah, the princess… his smile lowers. He still had to get her wardrobe. That place was probably heavily guarded. Well, nothing was really stopping him from just flying over and grabbing it through the balcony door. Except for the fact any projectiles they shot could destroy the food, and without a doubt the kitchen would be a mess by now. Maybe it would have been smart to get that first.

Sitting down on a nearby stump and grabbing another pastry, the mage goes over his options. He wasn't in a hurry. Zelda never gave him a time restraint, after all.

No, he shouldn't take too long. That would be horribly rude, and the food would get cold. It already was embarrassing that she found out he was stealing food from the castle thanks to her comment earlier. It wouldn't look good if he went back late with lukewarm food. He sighs and takes a bite of the pastry. Strawberry filled. Nice.

Thinking back to last night, and the empty rooms clearly meant for legions of monsters, Vaati wonders: Were they something he could summon on a whim? That could be incredibly useful right now. He finishes the pastry and dusts the crumbs off as he stands up, and concentrates. Start small. Just one monster would be enough for now.

The wind picks up around him and the stone on his hat glows crimson red. Lightning crackles around his hands and feet, and after a bit of effort, a spiral of smoke forms and grows to a height of about six feet tall in front of him. It's thicker and blacker than normal smoke, exactly the same as the magic he uses to teleport. Vaati slowly relaxes and the glow of the hat dies down as the smoke dissipates. Vaati narrows his eyes to get a good look at what exactly he summoned.

The creature is relatively human-like, with a large muscular torso and legs slightly small by proportion, but still muscular. The creature had the head of some sort of dog, with solid red eyes and ears that were thin and pointed. The snout was short, as if something had smushed it down. Short brown fur covered the monster's entire body, mostly darker brown with lighter brown accenting its eyes and underside, as well as running down its arms and legs in simple patterns. It wore light chain mail armor over its torso and waist, but not much else. Its fingers and toes ended in short, worn claws, so it was clear those didn't get much use as weapons. No, clearly it prefered swords, as it clutched a blade in one of its hands.

The monster seemed just as shocked as he was, if not more. It jumps back and points its sword at Vaati, not making a sound, but narrowing its eyes as it waits for him to attack first.

Vaati smiles. He wasn't fond of dogs, not in the slightest. But this monster was definitely a useful one. It's stance and the look in those blank eyes made it clear. It wasn't just a dog, it was a warrior.

The mage raises his hands and motions for the monster to settle down. "Calm down, calm down. I summoned you. You can understand me, right?"

It doesn't respond. Perhaps hylian wasn't its native tongue. That shouldn't be too much of a problem, though. If he could turn people to stone and transform into a enormous monster, a simple translation spell couldn't possibly be too difficult. It's not like he had to memorize any kind of spell, he just had to concentrate on whatever he wanted to do. He tries again, speaking slowly this time. "Calm down, I summoned you. My name is Vaati. I'm a sorcerer." To himself, he was still speaking hylian, but judging the monster's reaction, he was indeed speaking the correct language.

Its ears perk up, and it slowly lowers its weapon, standing up straight. In a low growl, it speaks. "Why have you summoned me?"

Vaati smiles. It worked! Containing his excitement, he says "I want you to work for me. Relatives of yours served me in the past. I expect you to do the same."

The monster curls up its lips and glares at him. "And why the hell would I do that? "

Vaati resists the urge to shoot him with lightning or something. "Well, for one thing, killing you would be child's play for me, so I'd watch the attitude." he growls. "But on another note, I'm offering you not only a job, but a serious upgrade from your current life. You can live in my palace, where you'll have access to quality armor and weaponry… or you can continue living like a bum."

The monster growls "What's the catch?"

"I just need staff to keep the place nice and follow simple orders. Clean, defend, do laundry, tend the gardens, things along those lines. I don't have any desire to go to war or anything. I'm offering you a safe haven to stay, and the equipment you need to wreak havoc on the land of hyrule as much as you like. Only an idiot would turn down such an offer."

"Why, because you'll kill me if I do?"

"No. because it's a good offer!" Vaati pinches the bridge of his nose. "I'm not going to force you to accept. I don't want to risk getting my throat slit in my sleep."

"Will the rest of my kin be given this offer?"

"Yes. Friends, family, pack, whatever." Vaati shrugs. "I've got plenty of space, and a huge palace. They can come and go as they please. I can teleport them wherever they want to go."

"There really is no catch?"

"Well, there is a rather  _demanding_  young lady."

The monster chuckles "Then we've got a deal. Name's Zagu."

"Nice to meet you, Zagu" Vaati puts his hand out to shake it, then winces as the monster squeezes his hand way too hard when shaking. He pulls his hand away as soon as the monster's grip loosens, rubbing it tenderly. "Now, before we head off, I actually have your first job."

The Darknut tilts its head to the side. "Oh, okay, what is it?"

Vaati points to the platters with food on them. "Can you hold those for me for like, ten minutes?"

"..."

Vaati stole the wardrobe without much of a problem. Some guards had spotted him as he approached Zelda's room, and shot arrows at him from afar. That wasn't very effective. This form was invulnerable to such feeble weapons, even if they did manage to hit him despite the wind magic blowing most of them off course. He grabbed as much extra furniture as he could, figuring that this would help him avoid any future trips. His demon form was large and malleable, so he had no trouble carrying everything, ignoring the arrows and dodging cannonball shots on his way back to pick up the monster. Zagu had obeyed his command and sat down with the food looking rather disappointed to be doing something so trivial.

The darknut looks up, its ears standing at attention. "You went  _furniture shopping?_ "

"The princess wanted her stuff." Vaati shrugs "And if I don't it's not long before she starts walking around naked…"

Zagu gives him a questionable look.

"...Not… that that's… a bad thing… just not appropriate for… just get on." He slams his claw down next to the monster, who steps onto it. "I don't want her staying long term, got it?" Vaati huffs as he takes off, flying towards the castle.

"So… you got her wardrobe and most of her furniture?" the creature's tone is doubtful.

"We're not discussing this." Vaati growls, irritated.

The darknut stays quiet for most of the trip, only perking his ears in interest upon seeing the wind palace. "Oh. Whoa. You never mentioned it was a  _flying_  castle…"

"Don't worry about it. You can still come and go whenever, you just… need to check with me first." Vaati notices the window to that hallway he had left open last night. He shoves the darknut inside and takes the food platters back. "There, you can go ahead and pick a room. I'll get your family or whatever later." Before Zagu can respond, he summons the window back to its spot and flies to the main tower.


	10. Chapter 10

There's not much to do while the Vaati is out. Zelda lays down on the bed for a few minutes staring at the incredibly intricate golden chandelier above her. Probably stolen. She didn't peg the mage for the artistic type, so she doubted that he made it. Then again, his castle was so intricate and pretty, he definitely had a sense of style…Maybe he did make it. As it was, she had no idea what his interests were... Outside of reading and stealing, that is. The latter probably more so. She'd have to keep a close watch on her wardrobe in case the kleptomaniac got bored one day.

Sitting up, Zelda looks out the window. How much time had passed by now? She wasn't used to having nothing to do. Her days usually had full itineraries. By this time she'd either be at the castle's archery range, or riding her horse around the field with about a dozen guards. She gets up and heads to the bathroom to get a hairbrush. Hopefully Vaati had thought to grab more than the wardrobe, she didn't want to keep borrowing it if that was something she could avoid. Zelda knew for a fact the mage wouldn't be too thrilled to go back for trivial things...

The princess walks back to the bed and plops down on it, inspecting the brush. It was unnecessarily fancy, painted purple with gold leaf accents and small gems on the back. She could understand why he'd own such a fancy brush if he used it all the time, but the item didn't have a single lilac-colored hair on it. There was no evidence to suggest he used this thing at all! The lucky bastard probably just used wind magic to take care of his tangles. Zelda scoffs at the absolute waste of such a nice item as she flips a bit of hair over her shoulder and starts to brush it as she ponders the number of other items that would be rendered useless thanks to his magic…

She really hoped he still bathed.

Before too long, a rush of air hits the room, signalling the wind mage's return. Zelda jumps up and runs to the balcony. He definitely has hands… well, tentacles, full of furniture, but she can't make out the details as he shoves something in through a window somewhere else on the palace before flying back to the main tower, entering her room.

Zelda figured she'd meet him down there. He was hopefully arranging the furniture. And if he wasn't, she might as well make sure he didn't just leave it in a pile, or goddesses forbid, start going through it. She swipes the mage's bathrobe again and puts it on before heading downstairs. Not reason to get him flustered again. She figured she'd save herself the embarrassment, since she doubted she could hide it so well this time.

She can smell the food before she even reaches the door. One she gets close to the room, she slows her stride to a careful tiptoe and peeks inside. Vaati is nearly done arranging the furniture. He's sitting on the bed in human form, except with about a dozen black tentacles moving the furniture and making some final adjustments so the layout of the room is nice. Each limb did its own thing to make the room nice, and they moved so smoothly, she's be mesmerized if it weren't for what wasn't for what sat next to him. There were two trays full of food on the bed, and in his hand he's holding a half eaten apple. She scowls. He really couldn't wait, could he?

Once finished, Vaati checks the room one more time before the black tendrils retreat back to him, like a bunch of snakes. There's a bit of a rush of air as his cape settles. He looks over his shoulder to the door.

Zelda hides around the corner. She had no doubt in her mind that he saw her. Until she hears him take another bite of that damned apple. Clearly he's comfortable enough to do  _that_. Then she hears the doors of her wardrobe opening, and a pang of panic hits her. She hurriedly looks around the corner to catch him in the act.

Vaati walks over to the wardrobe, and she peaks inside once she hears the doors open. "Goddesses, why are these so intricate?" He starts scrounging around. "Does she even have a tunic?"

"GET OUT OF THERE!" Zelda shouts, quickly running into the room.

Vaati flinches and yipes in alarm "THIS ISN'T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!"

Zelda runs up to see what he had already messed up. Luckily, it looked almost untouched. She shoots a glare at Vaati, who has both his hands up and the one eye not covered by his bangs wide in panic. "Care to explain?"

"I… figured you were- you were still upstairs, so I was just choosing an outfit for you!" he lowers his hands a bit. "You have people that do that for you, right?"

As it was, Zelda really had no idea if his intentions really were all that innocent or not, and doesn't feel like giving him a straight answer. "I can get dressed myself, thank you. Now, do you mind picking up that apple and giving me some  _privacy?_ "

"Uh, yeah, sure." He nods with an forced smile and suddenly disappears in a puff of black smoke and rematerializes behind her, outside the door. "Just… let me know when you're done." He shuts the door.

Zelda blinks, still processing what he just did. So he could teleport now. That man was really full of surprises. She sighs in exasperation, knowing she'd have to keep an eye on him around her stuff. Still if this really was innocent, it wouldn't pay to stay mad at him. And even if it wasn't this really wasn't that big of a deal. She's more relieved that he never actually  _found_  anything…

Zelda looks through her wardrobe until she finds one of her more comfortable outfits. Since Vaati would be carrying her around on his back, she decides her horse-riding getup would be most appropriate. It was one of her few outfits with actual pants, aside from the ones she used to practice archery or those for fencing. On top of that, she had no idea how rough the flight would be. The mage probably wouldn't be as behaved as her horse… and it's not like she had reigns or a riding crop for him, or that they would even work if she did. The idea was entertaining, though.

She gets dressed and sits down by the food Vaati had left on the bed. No point carrying it all the way back to the dining room. It was already lukewarm. Not that it was a big deal, but she had a hunch he probably shouldn't make a habit out of stealing from the castle, this could only work a few times before he got caught, it was incredibly difficult to just sneak around the castle unseen, and if he got caught, Link could catch wind of it and set a trap. Then she would be stuck up here.

Goddesses, she hoped he could cook.

She helps herself to some fruit on one of the platters, then announces "I'm done, you can come in!"

Vaati slowly opens the door, and leans inside, looking a bit nervous. "You're not upset?"

"Just don't do it again, and i'll forget it ever happened" she smiles pleasantly at him.

He gives her a doubtful look for a second, then slowly walks in and shuts the door behind him, looking her outfit up and down. "So you… really like pink, I see." he raises an eyebrow.

"Half the decorations in this castle are purple." She returns his look. "But, yeah, I  _really_  like pink."

"Fair point." He crosses his arms. "And you're sure no one will recognize you in that outfit? It doesn't really scream subtle."

She gives him a look. He was still dressed in that bright purple cape, bright red pants, with a golden belt and decoration on his hat, which also was adorned with a bright red gem. "... Right. Well, subtlety doesn't really matter, because we're heading to the Eldin province."

"Eldin? I didn't know that was within your borders." Vaati tilts his head to the side. "As far as I remember, the only bit of that province that belonged to Hyrule was Mount Crenel."

Of course. Vaati had been imprisoned for at least a century or two, he was out of the loop for a lot of things. At least she knew a decent amount of Hyrule's geography. Explaining it really shouldn't be too difficult. "Well, Eldin is more of a province, not a lot of people live there. Too many active volcanoes. Gorons are the main demographic there. And they live pretty deep in the mountain." She gets herself a small helping of food while she explains, and Vaati does the same. "My father has been trying to forge a relationship with them, but we haven't had a lot of luck. They aren't exactly united under one ruler yet, more like a few small tribes. It might take a few more generations before they become a group we can make deals with…"

Vaati nods as he absorbs the information. "From what I remember, Gorons were a more migrant race… Glad they finally got some sense and settled on a region. What else has changed?"

"Not too much. There have been some border disputes with neighboring countries, but nothing major. Though we have gotten reports of an aquatic race living further up the river that runs into lake Hylia." She huffs. "We don't have a lot of information on them yet, but the river is our main source of water. My father wants to become allies with them as soon as possible, but at this point we would have about as much luck as we would with the gorons."

The mage chuckles. "You know, diplomacy can only get you so far. Why would either the gorons or this new species just submit to the royal family?"

"We don't want to result to  _war…_ " The last word has a twinge of disgust in it. She enjoyed Link's stories of battle with monsters, but this was different.

"Why not? It's not like they have armies yet. If you start ruling them early, then you won't have to negotiate or fight with them later."

"And if they rebel?"

"Like I said, you have an army." Vaati shrugs.

She scoffs at him, and goes back to eating. This girl was gearing up to lead a country, but detested the violence that came with it. How curious. Still, he probably shouldn't let the conversation on that note.

"Well, there  _is_ another, nonviolent option…" He starts. She looks up at him with a raised brow and a doubtful expression.

"Take control of the land around their borders, and box them in. Or better yet…" He scoots closer, with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Become their protector."

Zelda blinks, Vaati's suggestion sending a wave of uneasiness through her. "Protector from what?"

"Monsters, obviously." Vaati smirks. "There is a plethora of beasts in hyrule and around it. Guide monsters to the races you want to become allies with, then have your precious hero go in with some troops and kill them. Not only does this make Hyrule look good, it makes them indebted to you. You'll go down in their  _legends._ " He backs up, still wearing a confident smirk. "That's better than any  _trade agreement_  you can possibly come up with."

Her expression no longer has a disgusted sneer on it, and she seems to actually be thinking it over.

"When you go back, you can tell your generals about it. Or by all means, wait til it's your turn to rule." Vaati adds. "I  _could_  take you back  _now…_  if it's urgent."

She's quiet for a few seconds. "I need some time to think it over…"

The mages huffs.

She gets up and dusts the crumbs off. "Let's just head off to Eldin. You can take care of the mess with magic, right?"

Vaati nods and whisks it away with a flick of his hand and the powerful gust of wind that follows it, "Okay, let's go." He walks over to the open window and steps over the edge.

Zelda runs up to it and looks over the side. The enormous demonic eye stares back. "What, don't you trust me?" The monster laughs mockingly. "Go on,  _princess_ , jump!" he dares. He had to be at least 20 meters down. And still above the cloud layer. The height was enough to make the princess a bit dizzy, even though she knew he would catch her… probably.

No, he'd catch her. He was just playing some childish game, trying to scare her. Well, she's not about to let him get to her.

She cautiously climbs onto the windowsill and sits on it, then closes her eyes and holds her breath as she slides off.

The monstrous eye widens in panic and Vaati rushes up to meet her halfway, grabbing her with his talons before she can fall for long. She jolts in surprise, not expecting the fall to last so long, and opens her eyes.

"Um…" The mage blinks, surprised at his own reaction. " You wanted to ride on top, right?"

"Not like there's many other choices." she nods.

Without another word, he lifts her over his form and sets her down between the two massive horns on his head, which she grips tightly as the mage takes off.

The view of the land, regrettably, is blocked by the clouds below them while they soar through the air. But on the bright side, Vaati was flying a lot more carefully than he had when he had first captured her. She wonders how he could possibly know where he's going, until she notices the significantly more dark clouds ahead. The mage was headed straight for them.

A foul smell meets them as they approach. Zelda wrinkles up her nose, not quite sure what it was. It was like a particularly foul fart. "What  _is_  that smell?"

"It's sulfur. A common product in volcanic ash." Vaati didn't have the pleasure of having a nose at the moment, but had been around volcanoes often enough to answer her question. "You've seriously never smelled sulfur?"

"I've heard sulfur smells like rotten eggs… but I haven't exactly smelled those either."

"Oh, your poor, delicate nose." his tone is annoyingly derisive, but before Zelda can make a comeback, the mage laughs manically and makes a 90 degree turn in the air, diving through the clouds at frightening speed.

Zelda screams and barely hangs on. She feels some tendrils wrap around her legs, then her hands, securing her so she doesn't fall off. The hot, dry, and ashy air stings her eyes to the point she has to squeeze them tight. She hoped the mage's enormous eye wasn't as sensitive…

Before long, Vaati comes to a sudden halt in the air, and floats the rest of the way down the the ground. The odd cold feeling of the sorcerer's body gives way to a surface of hard, warm rock. Unlike the air above the clouds, this area is humid. She opens her eyes. Vaati is standing next to her, looking up at something. She shakily stands up and observes her surroundings.

They're surrounded by enormous pools of water, with columns of steam raising up from them. The rocks around them were a gorgeous reddish brown, seemingly made brighter by the slight green color of the water around them, most likely due to the minerals inside. The smell of sulfur was much less extreme here, thankfully.

The mountains ahead tower over them, carrying a variety of red, brown, and orange hues, but not an ounce of green. But this place was far from lifeless. Large black lizards scurried from rock to rock, as well as small brown ostriches that would occasionally chase them. Odd buglike monsters jumped around the area, but kept their distance from the two of them. A sparsely used path winds around the pools and up into the mountain. The region had a foreboding sense about it. A sort of deadly beauty. She looks in the other direction, and notices they're still relatively high up, since she can see fields and even the castle in the distance. It was all so… miraculous. She could stare at this for hours.

"Okay, I've had my fill, where next?" Vaati yawns after not even two minutes.

This man was unbelievable. The princess sighs. "Give me at least an hour!"

"An hour?!"

"Yes, an hour! I want to commit this to memory!"

Vaati groans for a full second. "Uuuuuuuuugggggghhhh"

"Please?"

He pinches the bridge of his nose. "Fine. You have an hour." He huffs and starts walking off.

"Where are you going?!"

"Well, I might as well get in the spring if you're going to take so long. Just holler if you want to leave. Or if a monster attacks or something."

"This water is safe?"

"I wouldn't be getting in if it wasn't." He says in a condescending tone.

"But… what if… does anyone else know about this place?"

"I doubt it. It's a dangerous and long hike, riddled with monsters. You'll be safe if I leave you for an hour or so. I'll be within earshot. Of course, If you absolutely can't stand being alone for an hour, we can head back now."

"No, It's… it's fine." Damn this man, he always had to get his way, didn't he?

"Alright, then, I bid you  _farewell._ " Vaati bows disappears in a puff of black smoke


	11. Chapter 11

Vaati doesn't go far. Several rock formations jutting up from the hot springs left many places to hide, so he doubted the girl would find him anytime soon. He sits down at the edge of the water to remove his sandals, then reaches up to take off the hat.

His hands freeze as he grabs the golden rim of the cap. It wouldn't be wise to just leave the item unattended. This thing should never leave his person, even for a second. He huffs and, without disturbing the cap, removes the rest of his clothing. It only occurs to him that he could have just used magic to take it off when he's halfway done. "Tch, damn it…" The mage uses a bit of wind magic to fold everything up neatly and set it down a safe distance from the water.

The mage looks down at his body, curling up his nose. It seemed even worse now that he was looking at it again. His entire torso was etched with huge, ugly scars, especially in the center of his chest. There were long ones that looked like slash wounds, and some that were short and thick. One of them that was particularly disturbing was the one across his neck. He runs his hand over it, shuddering. Whatever had inflicted these wounds had meant to kill. And they were fucking pissed when they did it.

Vaati still couldn't get over that. This was one of the first things he had noticed that day when he woke up in this body. Before he even got over the initial shock of his human form, he was met with the gruesome sight of tattered clothes and marked skin when he looked in the mirror. If he hadn't noticed Zelda had disappeared, he would have obsessed over that for far longer.

Well, that shouldn't be a problem for much longer. The springs up here were supposed to have healing properties, according to one of the books he had skimmed through. He hadn't seen any others like it in Eldin, so it was a fair guess these were the right ones. He carefully steps into the steaming water, taking care not to step on any sharp or loose rocks that may be in there. This area was pretty shallow, thankfully, since the mage wasn't sure whether or not he could swim. Probably not. Finding a nice spot, he sits back against a rock and closes his eyes. It was nice and quiet outside without any voices or even that much wildlife to disturb the natural beauty of the area. Perhaps he had driven most of them away. That wasn't much of a surprise; animals tend to get skittish around monsters like himself. That was fine by Vaati. He didn't really like animals much either.

A couple minutes later, Vaati raises his arm out of the water to observe the progress on one of the scars on his arm. Patience was not one of his strong points. He scratches at it a few times, then sighs and drops it back in. One more minute passes and he checks again. He already feels like he's been waiting forever. Was this just a waste of time? There was one way to find out… he just didn't really like the idea. He takes his other hand out of the water presses his nails against the soft skin under his wrist. His fingernails (if he could even really call them that), were long and sharp, closer to claws than humans. Holding his breath, wincing and gritting his teeth, he digs his nails further into the skin and quickly rakes them up his arm all the way to the elbow.

FUCK, that hurt! The mage has to bite his lip to stifle the scream of pain that involuntarily rose from his lungs. One cut would have been plenty, why the hell did he use four?! Goddesses, that was a dumbass move! He opens one eye to inspect the damage, and of course, his entire arm is red with blood, and his skin gruesomely torn up. The water around his was slowly becoming clouded with red.

Vaati wastes no time submerging the injury, holding his arm tightly and breathing steadily as the throbbing slowly fades. He starts to feel lightheaded hurt from the blood he's already lost.

A few seconds later, he raises his hand out of the water. The wound has closed up, but it's still seriously sore, the affected skin not forming a scab, more like a blister. The mage curls up his lip and submerged his arm for a little while longer, upon inspecting it a few more times, there not much more improvement.

So this spring really was worthless. Not only was he still stuck with these scars all over him, but now he was adding a few more. Serves him right for expecting a miracle. Unless… good goddesses, he was an idiot. He could just use magic to heal himself! Concentrating on his arm, he waves his hand over it, seeing what he could do.

Vaati's arm turns black, similar to his body in demon form. It feels odd. The entire area becomes numb, except for a slight pins-and-needles sensation. In seconds, his arm is back to normal, with no evidence of the injury. Ecstatic, the mage stands up, and wades over to where the water is a bit more clear, and raises a mirror of ice from the water against another rock sticking out of the water. He narrows his eyes at the scars on his chest and focuses on them just as he did on his arm. Just as before, the area turns black and turns numb. As he waits for the magic to run its course, he admires the mirror he created. Guess he better add ice powers to the list. He hadn't even thought when he cast that spell, it was more of a spur of the moment thing. Of course, it was melting rapidly, but that was fine. After about a minute, he decides the regeneration spell should have done it's work and stops casting. The smoke covering his body fades...

But the scars remain. They hadn't even changed color. This infuriates Vaati. "DAMN IT!" He roars and punches the ice, shattering it and even cracking the rock behind it. The blow was only so effective because he had partially transformed mid-punch, which was accompanied with a massive blast of wind.

He hardly had time to calm down as he hears someone falling down and scrambling away behind him. As he whips around and shoots a blast of lighting in that direction, the culprit has already made themself scarce. The lighting only strikes a wall of rock, as a bushy tail disappears around it. Just some anima

How bizarre, though! Vaati knew his hearing had to be at least better than the average hylian. As a demon, all his senses were a bit more developed. So how did he not hear the creature coming? Perhaps he was just distracted?

Then he notices his clothes are missing.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"

He's out of the water in less than a second, leaping into the air as his body transforms, but like his outburst a few seconds ago, only partially. Four large wings explode out of his back, and both arms turn black and nearly double in size, turning into the same enormous claws that had caused significant damage to the stone. Black vein-like markings extend from his arms, as well as his hat, turning his face almost entirely black. Teeth turn to fangs, and the mage's eyes glow a fiery red

Vaati doesn't even notice the change, as he's far more focused on catching the scum who would dare steal from him. He's already thirty feet over the sky when he catches a fox-like creature running away. It was fast, already several yards away from where it had a very poor decision in stealing Vaati's belongings. But that wouldn't be fast enough.

The mage only needs to beat his wings twice to catch up, then dives right for the monster, missing only slightly as he lands in front of the creature, cutting off its escape with enough force to make the ground crack and shake.

The creature staggers, dropping its stolen goods and drawing its sword. However, it doesn't have time to get into a fighting stance, because its head is grabbed by a massive black claw before the dust can settle. Vaati had wasted no time in charging the monster, and is merciless as he slams the creature into the ground, then lifts it up and slams it down again, and again, and again. He pays no attention as it stabs his arm again in desperation, yelping with each blow. It gets lucky, though, as Vaati lifts it one more time, it slashes it's blade across the demon's eyes.

Vaati yowls as he releases the monster, which scrambles to its feet and starts running away. The injury heals immediately, and as soon as he can wipe the blood out one of his eyes, he shoots a curse at the creature, petrifying it mid-stride. Panting, he looks down at the bag it dropped. The wings and his arms start to shrink, and his flesh returns to its normal color as he calms down. He had half a mind to smash the creature now, but first he'd prefer not to be naked anymore.

A simple burlap sack, nothing too special. He takes a step towards it, and reaches down to grab it, pausing to look at his hand. It was slightly frightening to watch his own limb turn from a monstrous claw back to his hand, since it didn't just fade away, it seemed to slither across his skin and up his arm.

It registers that he hadn't really been conscious of his actions. That transformation, that vicious attack…. It had all been done purely out of instinct. This wasn't a coordinated magic attack, this was an act of manic bloodlust. All because something had pissed him off. Well, he was already pissed off, but that monster had been the unfortunate target of his aggression.

His heart skips a beat. He could easily end up doing the same thing to Zelda. And he doubted her skull was nearly as resilient as that monster's.

Vaati shakes his head. No, he wouldn't do that. As long as he could keep his temper, the girl should be fine. He grabs the bag and turns it upside down, emptying its contents onto the ground. Along with his clothes and shoes, various precious metals fall out, as well as a few lizards that immediately roll over and scurry away. The mage yelps and drops the bag as he jumps back, startled by the little creatures.

That was… embarrassing. Hopefully no one saw that. He picks up his tunic… and notices Zelda's outfit right under it.

Well, that was just great. FANTASTIC. She'd probably think he did it, too. Hopefully she was a lot more clueless than he was. Yeah, right. Not a chance. Whether he teleported it back or managed to find her, he'd get blamed for that. Grumbling and throwing his clothes on, he walks around so he's in front of the stone statue of the monster. He debates shooting off an ear to teach it a lesson, but decides that of he wants to use this creature in the future, it would be better not to injure it any further.

Well, maybe a little further. He moves a large rock in front of the creature's foot before finally reversing the curse.

It's pretty satisfying to watch the thief trip as soon as it's back to flesh. It drops the sword, and Vaati calmly picks it up and points it at the monster. It slowly looks up at him, a look of pure terror evident in its eyes.

The mage smirks, a bit amused by this. He squats down to more easily meet the creature's eye level. "So, have we learned our lesson on stealing?"

The creature shakes. "W-what are you?"

"Heh, I'm not the best person to ask. But it your case, probably the worst person you could have stolen from."

"I won't- I not steal again, I promise!" the monster whimpers

"Pft, no, you idiot, steal all you want. Just know who the hell you're messing with when you do."

It gives him a look of confusion. Vaati just continues anyway.

"Now, since I've had a bit of time to calm down, I've decided to let you off easy. Here, I'll even take care of that concussion or whatever I gave you." He puts his hand on the back of the keaton's head and proceeds to heal it's skull. "All I want you to do is return that pretty outfit to where you got it. Preferably so the girl you stole it from can see you put it back." He points to the clothes on the ground. "You can keep the rupees and everything else, I don't particularly care."

It sits up slowly, looking at it's bag. "My lunch…"

"Yeah, pretty sure that ran away. Now, do what I told you. And don't even think about running off instead."

The monster nods, runs over to shove everything back into his bag except for the princess's outfit, and then scurries off. In a last second decision, he sends a small eyeball bat familiar after hit to make sure it doesn't try anything. That should give him ample time to plan the rest of the day. There was the issue of eating, the issue of dealing with the Darknut, the issue of getting the princess back home, the issue with his amnesia. It was all so overwhelming. He just wanted to go to sleep at this point.

Well, he could at least take care of one of those issues now. Holding his hand out, he summons Zagu in front of him.

What appears is something a bit different than the dog-like creature from before. An imposing knight stands fully clad in full body armor, silver with purple markings across the chest and shoulder plates, which vaguely resembled the mage's monster form. The helmet was adorned with a pair of large horns, and blocked most of the monsters face, save for the eyes. Perhaps it might be more intimidating if the monster wasn't admiring himself in the reflection of his sword. As soon as it realizes where it is, it hurriedly sticks its sword in the ground and stands at attention.

"Yes, Vaati, what have you summoned me for?"

"Okay first of all, wow that fits you well. You got that out of one of those rooms, right?"

"Um, yes. The one you dropped me off in."

"And you said there were others like you?"

"Yes, droves."

"Where can I find them?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regarding the ice powers Vaati uses in this chapter, that's based of a personal headcanon that he froze the temple of droplets in Minish Cap.   
> I've got a metric ton of headcanons that I intend to implement into my story, so feel free to ask! I love getting comments!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for uploading the previous chapters all at once, I'm currently still transitioning from fanfiction.net, and I've been caught up with college stuff. School has been hell but I'm pulling through. 
> 
> Hopefully, come summer, I'll be able to update more often! Hope y'all enjoy!!

The decision to get in the water wasn't an easy one. Vaati had claimed no one else would be around, but considering he really didn't know the area, his word should be taken with a grain of salt. She didn't want to run into anyone here, including him.

Still, it was hot out, and observing the mountain from the water seemed like a more pleasant choice than sweating in her clothes. Besides, If he was taking the chance, she should probably be fine… right? It's not like she'd get this chance again. Vaati seemed annoyed enough to be staying here more than a few minutes. At least he wasn't too hard to convince. Either he didn't like arguing or she just had charm he couldn't ignore.

Probably the former, honestly.

Zelda checks the area again to make sure she's alone before finding a nice spot to view the mountains in the springs, leaving her belongings nearby, save for a small notebook and small piece of charcoal wrapped in cloth. Choosing a spot that looked shallow enough, she sat down in the water and propped the leather booklet on her knee.

Art wasn't something she had visited for a while. One can only paint still life's or the castle garden so many times before it gets old. Needless to say, she had given up on painting years ago. But the opportunity to visit an entirely new province of Hyrule had sparked her motivation again. The very moment she arrived, a childlike wonder overtook her. She opens the small journal to a new page, and carefully starts to copy the curves of the mountain as best she could. As she studied it, she even started to notice small clumps of violet flowers precariously attached to the cliff faces. It was a shame she couldn't bring her painting set with her, but in the short time she had to change, she wouldn't have been able to find it. Surely it had to be stowed away somewhere, either in the back of her wardrobe, her vanity…. She wasn't looking forward to searching for it.

That was a bridge to cross later, though. For now, all Zelda had to do was capture the basic shape and flow of the view, and commit the colors to memory. She usually had a reference in front of her while she painted, but judging from Vaati's attitude, it wasn't likely he'd want to come back. Oh well. Maybe she would get lucky and he'd fall asleep while bathing, giving her more time to draw.

Time passes and she remained concentrated on copying the form of the mountain perfectly. However, with her crude tools and small book, it takes quite a few tries. Being out of practice for so long didn't help the fact.

She's nearly done with her fifth attempt when she hears Vaati curse loudly from what sounds like a fair distance away, followed by a crunching sound she could only get was one of the large rocks jutting out of the spring. She freezes, holding her breath and listening closely. Nothing for a few seconds. Just as she starts to exhale, she hears a loud blast, almost like… thunder? She closes the book and stands up. He was pissed. This wasn't good. A few more second pass, and there's another loud crash, somewhat closer this time. To make it worse, it's shortly followed by several consecutive thuds, each paired with the sound of some animal yelping in pain.

Zelda covers her mouth in panic. She didn't want to scream, but each consecutive blow and yelp was starting to make her feel sick. Until, finally, it stops. The relief is overwhelming, and her legs start to buckle and she slips down the wall of rock a bit. There was no doubt about it, that man was dangerous. She looks towards where she had left her clothes.

Gone.

Okay, time to panic again. She looks left and right, hoping she had just forgotten where she placed it. This was bad. Had she been robbed? Vaati said no one came up here! Did he steal her outfit? If not, who did? Was… was it possible this was all part of some cruel plot to scare her? These were all thoughts that went through her head as she searched frantically for her clothes. If Vaati really was as pissed off as he sounded, the last thing she wanted was to be exposed like this.

To make matters worse, she starts hearing footsteps. Dropping the journal on the ground, Zelda runs back to the water and hides behind one of the smaller rocks, silently crouching down. She feels around the bottom of the pool. Finding a good sized stone, she raises it high enough so she can throw it at any time. Not that that would do much good, but it was worth.

She doesn't hesitate to hurl the stone the moment the keaton steps into view. Luckily for the monster, she misses by a long shot. It jumps a little as the rock hits the ground to its side, and swings its head around. Their eyes meet.

Shit. "That… wasn't me." She lies poorly. As she feels around blindly for another rock.

Luckily for her, the creature doesn't try to retaliate. In fact, upon closer inspection it looked pretty shaken. Its ears were flattened against its head, and the fur around its head was matted down with blood. Even in such a sorry state, Zelda recognized it from the monster encyclopedias she had read. They were supposed to be fast, stealthy things, so it didn't make sense that it was just walking up to her, especially if it was wounded…

That's when she notices her clothes, wadded up in a ball in its arms. It immediately sets them back on the ground, And before she has a chance to ask questions, it sprints off.

It was coming together now. There was no doubt that disheveled monster had been the victim of Vaati's wrath in the horrid fight she overheard... It was nice to know it was alive, at least, and not reduced to mincemeat. Still, she wastes no time pulling her outfit back on, cursing the fact that she never thought to bring a towel as the fabric clings to her uncomfortably. She squeezes out her hair as best she can, too, and ties it in a messy ponytail. Even if the mage's actions were done in retaliation to getting robbed, he was probably still irate and may want to leave early. Whether or not that was the case, there was no harm in getting dressed before he came looking for her.

Once dressed, Zelda scoops up her notebook and starts walking in the direction she heard the ruckus coming from. The moment she rounds the corner, she nearly runs into a small eyeball bat that was perched on the side of the rock. It squeaks and its eye widens in panic, then the familiar explodes in a puff of black smoke.

"That little-!" She looks back, to check if the place where she had gotten dressed would have been visible from that spot. Thankfully, it wasn't. Hopefully the familiar had just been keeping an eye on the monster…. She grumbles to herself and continues heading towards where she believed the mage to be. Stone in hand, just in case.

It doesn't take long to find him.

"I take it you're finished with your sightseeing, your highness?"

"YAH!" Zelda jumps and throws the stone in the direction of his voice. Again, it misses, and smashes into the nearby cliffside instead.

Vaati was sitting on one of the cliff's ledges a few feet above and to the right of where the rock hit, studying one of those purple flowers as he twirled it in his hand. He glances at the spot where the impulsively thrown projectile had harmlessly bounced off. "Wow. Thank Hylia for your godawful aim." he remarks with that same old shit-eating grin on his face.

She blinks a couple times, then leans down to grab another rock. "Hold on, let me try again."

"Wait, no-" He teleports out of the way right as another stone hits the rock face behind him, dropping the flower in the process.

Dusting her hands of, she turns around and crosses her arms at the mage, who was now standing a fair distance away from her. "I came to check out the source of the commotion. Care to explain what happened?"

Vaati rolls his eyes. "Clearly you can't take a joke… Anyway, the noise was me taking care of a monster that was trying to make off with your lovely outfit. Considering you got it back, I think a 'thank you' is in order."

"Considering you said this place wasn't supposed to have anyone here anyway, I think an apology is in order before a thank you. And I don't consider trying to scare me a joke."

"...Touché."

"That fight still sounded excessive for just one monster…" Zelda glaces around, looking for any signs of a fight, or corpses, even.

"I may have gotten carried away. But if you're worried about the creature's health, I healed it before sending it back."

"And the little flying eyeball you sent?"

"Just a sentry to follow it so it didn't run off. What, you think I was spying on you? I get you don't have a very high opinion on me, but that's just hurtful…" he puts his hand over his chest, pretending to be offended.

"Right, and I've definitely known you long enough to know you wouldn't do that."

"Tch, whatever." Vaati actually does look a bit offended by that statement. "...I take it you'd like to go back to the palace now?"

"Unless you happen to have a towel on you, yes."

"I could just hit you with a blast of hot air, your highness. Unless that's not proper enough for you…"

Honestly, it probably was a more convenient option. After all, he certainly looked dry enough, but it just didn't sound dignified. Especially since she didn't know how it worked, and didn't want to get knocked over.

"With all due respect, I think I've hit the limit on the amount of your magic I'd like to deal with today. Just take me back and I'll take care of this myself."

Vaati shrugs. Not like he cared either way. "Fine. get on." He shapeshifts into his monstrous form and holds out his claw.

~~~~~~~~~~~~.

The mage doesn't stick around long after dropping her off. "I trust you can avoid getting into trouble until I get back..." he says as he lowers her into the courtyard.

"You're leaving again?" She asks. Not that this was a problem, but his persistent need to distance himself from her was starting to get on her nerves. He had been the only person around for her to talk to for the last few days, and it's not like they talked much outside petty bickering.

"I have some business to attend to back at the surface. I should be back at dark, at the latest."

That seemed like a poor excuse. "And… what sort of business might this be?"

"Well, I don't intend on doing all the work around this place without some sort of help, can I? I'm simply hunting down some servants to do… well, anything I don't want to do." He's already flying

Well, that sounded enough like him. She sighs. "Should I be worried about these people? Or, rather, how you plan on 'hiring' them?"

Vaati chuckles. "Of course not. I doubt you hylians even care much about monsters anyway. Don't worry about it." he avoids explaining further by abruptly flying off.

"...Monsters?"


End file.
